NOTES 



ON THE 



History of the Oyster in Maryland 



AND THE 



Physical Valuation of Her Oyster 
Properties 



BY 

CASWELL GRAVE 
Of the Johns Hopkins University and Maryland Shell Fish Commission* 



lt)*i9T2 



fM 



NOTES 



ON THE 



History of the Oyster in Maryland 



AND THE 



Physical Valuation of Her Oyster 
Properties 



BY 



CASWELL GRAVE 
ii 



Of the Johns Hopkins University and Maryland Shell Fish Commission. 






Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/notesonhistoryofOOgrav 



OYSTER HISTORY. 

Origin of the Oyster Industry in Maryland. 
A study of the history of the oyster industry of Maryland 
shows that oysters became commercially important to the 
State during and after the period between 1836 and 1848 
when the processes of raw and steam packing were invented, 
and when railway connections between Baltimore and the 
West were being established and extended, thus providing 
the conditions under which a great oyster trade could be 
established and developed. 

Period of Growth. 

Between this period and the year 1884 a gigantic indus- 
try in catching, packing, canning and shipping oysters was 
developed in Baltimore and in the towns on the shores of 
the Chesapeake. 

The growth of the industry during this period is shown 
by the output of oysters from the natural oyster bars of the 
State : 

710,000 bushels in 1839. 
1,350,000 " " 1850. 
2,610,000 « " 1856-57. 
3,500,000 " " 1858-59. 
4,879,000 " " 1865-66. 
8,040,000 " " 1868-69. 
9,233,000 " " 1869-70. 
14,000,000 " " 1874-75. 
15,000,000 " " 1884-85. 

Period of Decline. 

The same causes which led to the development of the oys- 
ter industry, however, are the same which finally resulted in 
its decline ; that is, the steadily increasing demand for oys- 



ters brought about by the continued extension of railway 
communications with the West finally reached such a mag- 
nitude that it could not be supplied by the natural oyster 
beds without serious and permanent injury. In an attempt 
to supply it more than the normal annual increase of the 
beds had to be taken. In other words, the oyster resources 
of Maryland were sacrificed. 

The maximum output from the Public Oyster Fishery was 
reached in 1884-85, and from this date there has been a 
steady decline in the annual product harvested by Maryland 
oystermen. 

The extent of this decline is shown by the following 
statistics : 

15,000,000 bushels in 1884-85. 

10,450,000 " " 1888-89. 

9,945,000 " " 1889-90. 

11,632,000 " " 1891-92. 

10,142,000 " " 1892-93. 

7,254,000 " " 1897. 

5,685,000 " : < 1900-01. 

4,500,000 " " 1904. 

6,232,000 " " 1907-09. 

3,500,000 " " 1910-11. 

Investigations. 

During this period of decline in the output from the natu- 
ral oyster beds three surveys and investigations have been 
carried on, and in each case the cause for the decline has 
been ascertained to be deterioration of the natural oyster 
beds from overfishing. 

The area of oyster grounds which were formerly product- 
ive, but which are now practically barren and without the 
ability to be restocked through natural means, aggregates 
about 100,000 acres. 



Until this exhausted area is brought again into a state of 
productivity through methods practiced by oyster cultural- 
ists it is not probable that the yield of the oyster lands of 
Maryland in 1884-85 will ever be equaled. 

Protective measures such as the CULL LAW and CLOSED 
SEASONS may serve a useful purpose in checking further 
destruction of the remaining natural oyster bars, but they do 
not result in an extension of the productive area, increase the 
quantity produced, or improve the quality of the product. 

Unaided Nature Powerless to Repair the Damage. 

The hopelessness of waiting for the exhausted oyster 
grounds to be restocked by nature is well illustrated by the 
effect of the very remarkable "set" of spat which took 
place on the natural beds in 1905-06 and 1906-07. This 
"set" was general throughout the State and most generous 
in quantity, yet the condition of the exhausted grounds 
remained unchanged. Even the effect of this " set " on the 
entire oyster fishery grounds lasted but about three years — 
the average life of an oyster. The output was temporarily 
increased about two millions bushels during the seasons of 
1907-08 and 1908-09, but in 1910-11 it fell to 3£ millions 
bushels. 

Oyster Culture an Untried Remedy. 

To place new cultch on these exhausted grounds — to 
plant them with the kind and quantity of oysters suited to 
their ability to produce, and to give to the grounds and 
their product the attention they need, requires the interest of 
private ownership and control. No student of human nature 
will deny this conclusion. 

For nearly thirty years oyster culture has been asking to 
be given an opportunity to restore to productivity the 
exhausted oyster grounds of this State and to develope the 
latent possibilities of certain barren bottoms. 



6 

With a fair opportunity, oyster culture promises in time 
to increase many fold the present output of oysters, to 
improve the quality of a fair proportion of the product, and 
to make the oyster resources of the State self-supporting 
and 'productive of revenue instead of a burden as is the case 
at the present time. 

The Real Question. 

Why not give oyster culture a fair trial ? With the com- 
pletion of the present "oyster survey " all valid objections have 
been removed. 



WHAT ARE THE OYSTER LANDS OF 
MARYLAND WORTH ? 

Basis for Estimate. 

The total direct income from the natural oyster bars of 
Maryland is the combined net profit of the oystermen who 
gather the product, and of the packers and dealers engaged 
in canning and distributing o} 7 sters. 

After averaging for a long period of years the cost of 
gathering oysters and the prices received by oystermen for 
their catch, it is estimated that the average net income to 
oystermen on every bushel of oysters taken from the natural 
oyster beds is about twenty-five cents. And by a similar 
process it is estimated that the average net gain to packers 
and canners on each bushel of oyster handled is about 
twenty cents. 

Combining these net incomes we have forty -five cents as the 
average total income on each bushel yielded by the oyster 
lands of the State. 



Physical Valuation. 

This profit of forty-five cents per bushel may then be used 
in arriving at a conservative estimate of the value of the 
lands themselves. 

In the computations it is assumed that the annual net 
income from an enterprise as hazardous as that of oyster 
production, should be not less than ten per cent of the value 
of the capital invested. 

Physical Valuation of the Oyster Properties of Maryland 
Based on Past Records of Production. 

1873-88 :-During the period between 1873 and 1888, the 
average annual yield of the natural oyster bars of Maryland 
was about 12,000,000 bushels. 

12,000,000 bushels at a combined net profit to the oyster- 
man and the packer of 45 cents per bushel gives a total net 
income of $5,400,000. 

A net income of $5,400,000 capitalized on a basis of ten 
per cent gives a " going " physical valuation of the oyster 
properties of Maryland on the basis of an average of fifteen 
years of over FIFTY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. 

If our natural oyster resources produced this amount dur- 
ing a period of fifteen years they are capable of being made 
to produce this amount again, hence FIFTY MILLION 
DOLLARS as a valuation of the natural oyster resources of 
Maryland is a conservative one. 

1906-7: The present. " oyster survey," or inventory as it 
might be better called, of the oyster lands of this State was 
organized during this period. And the output from the 
oyster fishery during the preceding season was 4,500,000 
bushels of oysters. 

4,500,000 bushels at a combined net profit to the oyster- 
man and the packer of 45 cents per bushel gives a net 
income of $2,025,000. 



8 

A net income of $2,025,000 capitalized on a basis of ten 
per cent, gives a "going" physical valuation to the depleted 
and undeveloped resources of Maryland of 1904-'06 of 
TWENTY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. 

1910-11 : In this season it is estimated that the produc- 
tion of oysters in Maryland was only 3,500,000 bushels. 

3,500,000 bushels at a combined net profit to the oyster- 
man and the packer of 45 cents per bushel gives a net 
income of $1,575,000. 

A net income of $1,575,000 capitalized on a basis of ten 
per cent, gives a " going " physical valuation of the much 
depleted oyster properties of Maryland of only FIFTEEN 
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. 

Note : Contrast the figures developed by the 
preceding valuations : 
Fifteen years ending 1888 (average) . $50,000,000 

Season 1904-06 20,000,000 

Season 1910-11 15,000,000 

In the face of these facts can a doubt remain 
that it is time for Maryland to do something to 
restore to the people of Maryland the income from 
the thirty-fiive millions of dollars of property made 
useless and unproductive through a lack of remed- 
ial legislation. And this takes no account of what 
may be done by the cultivation of oysters on bot- 
toms where oysters have never grown before. 

Physical Valuation of the Oyster Properties of 
Maryland in the Future. 

If oyster culture and oyster cultural methods only promised 
to develop the oyster properties of the State so that the} 7 
will be made to produce their former average yield, it would 
be enough to warrant their trial, but they promise more. 



9 

They promise ultimately to bring 100,000 acres of now 
unproductive grounds into productivity, and to so improve 
the product that the combined net income to the oystermen 
and the packer from growing and handling oysters will be 
75 cents per bushel for these cultivated oysters as contrasted 
with 45 cents per bushel for oyster from public oyster bars. 

They also promise to increase the yield of the natural 
beds to 75 bushels per acre instead of 30 bushels which was 
their average yield in 1907-'09. 

(Note — In the season 1910-11 the average yield 
was less than 20 bushels per acre.) 

Using the preceding reasonable assumptions as a basis 
the future physical valuation of the oyster properties of 
Maryland may be figured as follows : 

200,000 acres, 75 bushels, 45 cents . $6,750,000 
100,000 » 75 " 75 " . 5,625,000 



Total Net Income . . . $12,375,000 



Capitalized on the basis of ten per cent., the figures just 
developed, gives a future physical valuation to the state owned 
oyster properties of Maryland of over ONE HUNDRED 
AND TWENTY MILLION OF DOLLARS. 

This takes no account of what may be done by the cultivation 
of oysters on bottoms where oysters have never grown before, 
and the extent of these bottoms is 200,000 acres. 

The Real Question Repeated. 

Why not give oyster culture a fair trial? With the comple- 
tion of the present "oyster survey" all valid objections have 
been removed. 



10 

OBJECTIONS TO OYSTER CULTURE. 

The beneficiaries of the Public Oyster Fishery of Mary- 
land have always predicted dire calamity to their rights 
from oyster culture. No sooner has one of their fears been 
shown to be without foundation than another has been 
conjured up. In 1906 the objection to oyster culture was 
that : 

Planters Will Lease Natural Oyster Bars. 

It was claimed by oystermen that oyster culture is only a 
ruse by which private interests plan to get hold of the nat- 
ural oyster bars. It was further claimed that oysters will 
not grow where they are not now growing and that the bot- 
toms not now productive are worthless for oyster produc- 
tion and that the planters do not want thein. 

In 1906 these objections were overruled and enough of 
the proposed oyster culture bill was enacted to provide for a 
complete survey of the o} r ster lands of the State. As a 
result of this survey all of the natural oyster bars of the 
State have been reserved as a Public Oyster Fishery. Thus, 
instead of sacrificing the rights of oystermen to the natural 
oyster bars to private interests, the State has reserved an area 
of oyster lands greater by more than 90,000 acres than oyster- 
men ever laid claim to. Not an acre of this enormous 
reserved area can be leased for the purposes of oyster 
culture. 

Planters Will Steal Oysters from the Natural Bars. 
The fears of oystermen in 1906 have been shown to have 
been without foundation but now they are opposed to the 
granting of the rights and privileges essential for successful 
oyster culture on the ground that lessees of barren bottoms 
will steal oysters from the natural oyster bars with which 
to stock their private leased beds. 



11 

This fear of oystermen has been met by the advocates of 
oyster culture with the proposition that heavy penalties be 
provided for theft of oysters from the natural oyster bars — 
confiscation of boat, cancelation of lease, fine and imprison- 
ment.. Could the good faith of the advocates of oyster 
culture for Maryland be more fully guaranteed ? The tres- 
pass of planters upon the natural oyster bars can be easily 
detected. Every oysterman will be on the lookout for such 
trespass, and they are legion in every locality. No planter 
will be such a fool as to risk his reputation and property 
for booty so small and so cheaply purchased during the 
open oyster season. 









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RESHELLI 

ACT 

SURVEY OF 

NATURAL 

OYSTER BARS 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



002 896 793 7| 



